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Bazmi S, Soltanzadeh H, Ghasemi Sichani M. A Comparison of the Position of Women in Worship Places of the Abrahamic Religions in the Safavid Period of Isfahan. CIAUJ 2021; 6 (2) :33-49
URL: http://ciauj-tabriziau.ir/article-1-316-en.html

Several factors affect the social and cultural identity of men and women and the relationship between gender and architecture, including religious, cultural and social beliefs, as well as norms, social values and gender freedom in the contexts of family and society. The present study tries to investigate the role of cultural and religious beliefs in the construction of gender and space to find the effect of gender-related religious and cultural issues on the characteristics of the architecture of religious places of different religions in the Safavid Period. It also makes an attempt to discover forms and spatial elements of the studied spaces that characterize gender differences corresponding to the component of religious beliefs. Therefore, the general hypothesis of the research is that different religious beliefs in different religions change the relationship between gender and space in different types of worship places in Isfahan and this issue can be seen in the form-plan structure of these religious places. To test this hypothesis, after reviewing the research literature, first the religious places of different religions in different historical periods were examined and then to explain and analyze the functional relationships, Safavid travelogues were perused. To investigate the problem, using a historical-interpretive and a descriptive-analytical method, a number of religious spaces of different religions, which mainly belonged to the Safavid historical period in Isfahan, were selected and their physical and spatial elements were analyzed. The samples were examined and those with analyzable documents, maps and feminine spaces were considered. The final samples were selected from the items with the characteristics of gendered spaces which mostly differed from the other ones. Accordingly, using the method of comparative research, the relationship between gender and space was evaluated and compared by examining the gender domain and the separation of physical privacy in the worship places of three religions. After collecting the required maps, the spatial relations analysis began. At this stage, first the plans were analyzed in general and then the physical and spatial elements of these religious places, including the entrances, the places of worship and the places where women sit were compared to each other. It was shown that in Jewish synagogues of Isfahan, the gendered spaces were more expanded, the spaces were segregated according to gender differences, and single-gender spaces were more common. In addition, it was found that gender boundaries in mosques were less than in synagogues. Religious beliefs have further reduced the physical and gender boundaries of churches. The results show that cultural and religious beliefs affected the relationship between gender and space and the differences in gendered structures in different religions caused significant changes in the formation of the framework of worship places. Moreover, religious freedom in Christianity caused the freer use of the religious spaces as an example of architecture following religious beliefs. In addition, in synagogues with more religious restrictions, the function of spaces was more limited and segregated. Mosques also had special restrictions according to the limits of Islamic rules and principles. Accordingly, the formal and spatial elements in the studied religious places indicated gender differences in accordance with religious beliefs. Therefore, the present study confirms the role of religion in creating gendered spaces and its relationship with the organization of architectural elements of religious places in different religions.